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Chill, breezy tunes this Thursday from Emma Gleason, with newness from Brian Eno and Beattie Wolf and Tom Scott (those new albums are out on October 10), dreamy classics by Kate Bush and Mazzy Star and more.

Recently the Government announced a new policy that would means test the Jobseeker benefit for 18-19 year olds. 

This new means testing would disqualify those 18-19 year olds who have a combined parental income above $65,000. 

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon speaking directly to those young people receiving a benefit said that “I make no apologies, if you want a job, you go to where jobs are” 

The official unemployment rate is 5.2% with 158,000 people unemployed. In June, young people from 15-24 years olds had an unemployment rate of 12.9% with Maori and Pasifika young people more acutely affected. 

According to experts there are very few pathways left that actively support young people to get employment in our current job market. Current cost of living payments from Studylink amount to $9.50 per hour of full time study. 

Aaron Hendry, founder of youth organisation Kick Back says that this change would increase the risk of homelessness for young people and put some of our most vulnerable young people in potentially dangerous situations.

Furthermore hundreds of teenagers with disabilities and chronic health issues, who currently live in a state of poverty, would be disqualified from accessing this benefit as well. 

Thursday Wire Producer Sanat spoke to Sarita Divis, Executive Officer at the Child Poverty Action Group, about the implications of these changes.

For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke with Shanan Halbert about benefits changes for 18 and 19-year-olds, the Reserve Bank cutting the official cash rate, and the recent protests outside Winston Peters home. 

For International Desk, they spoke to Acacia O’Connor from the Global Movement to Gaza about the experiences of activists detained by Israel.

And they speak to 95bFM reporter Castor Chacko who is on the ground at the protest against RocketLab outside the University of Auckland engineering building. 

On City Counselling this week, Producer Sanat spoke to Councilor Julie Fairey about Auckland’s voter turnout and the importance of casting your vote by the 11th of October 

He also spoke to the Executive Officer for the Child Poverty Action Group Sarita Divis about changes to the JobSeeker Benefit for 18-19 year olds.

With 2 days to go before voting closes, the voter turnout throughout Tamaki Makarau still remains low, with around 20 percent of eligible voters having cast their vote throughout the city. 

According to these statistics, voter turnout is tracking to be lower than 2022’s local elections which had a final turnout of 35.4 percent. 

Thursday Wire Producer Sanat talked to Julie Fairey today to give our listeners (and prospective voters) a final elevator pitch as to why they should vote in their local elections. 

They also talked about why it is that the design and structure of these elections are not conducive to higher voter participation and the change necessary to make civic participation cool again. 

Lara Greaves jumps on the line with Rosetta and Milly to catch up on recent political news - including the Waitangi Tribunal turning 50 this year, and recent calls for the banning of protesting outside private property after a window was smashed at Winston Peters' home. Whakarongo mai nei!

With 2 days to go before voting closes, the voter turnout throughout Tamaki Makarau still remains low, with around 20 percent of eligible voters having cast their vote throughout the city. 

According to these statistics, voter turnout is tracking to be lower than 2022’s local elections which had a final turnout of 35.4 percent. 

Thursday Wire Producer Sanat talked to Julie Fairey today to give our listeners (and prospective voters) a final elevator pitch as to why they should vote in their local elections. 

They also talked about why it is that the design and structure of these elections are not conducive to higher voter participation and the change necessary to make civic participation cool again. 

It's Thursday Brekkie with Milly and Rosetta! E whai ake nei, coming up on the show: Political Commentary with Lara Greaves, Milly spoke with Joey Santiago from Pixies, and Jim chats tea gardens on Greening Out! Whakarongo mai nei!

Thanks to eighthirty coffee roasters!

The government announced two new initiatives aimed at moving young people out of benefit dependency, and are looking to motivate them to stay in work by providing a $1000 incentive if they are able to keep stable work for more than 12 months. In the same announcement, they stated that young adults, aged 18 and 19, will no longer be eligible for Jobseeker payments if their parents can support them, for which they set the bar as an annual household income of just over $65,000.

In addition to this, The Green Party conducted a public interview on Monday, with the families of the three New Zealanders who were detained by Israel aboard the Sumud flotilla. The goal of the flotilla was to break through Israel’s illegal blockade that has existed since 2007, and provide aid to those suffering in Gaza.

As a result of rising tensions towards the Government’s stance on Gaza, Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ Auckland home was vandalised on Tuesday, the day after the press conference where Chloe Swarbrick urged the Government to act against Israel. Peters then quickly blamed the vandilisation – where a protestor broke his window and left a note saying “welcome to the real world” – on what he described as the “radical left”.

For our weekly catchup with the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March, Wednesday Wire Host Max speaks to him about the vandalisation of Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ Auckland home, what the Green Party is asking of the government as a next step in Aotearoa’s stance on Gaza. As well as the Government’s initiatives aimed at moving young adults towards independence.

We also spoke about Associate Education Minister David Seymour’s announcing a change to how the government contracts school attendance services.

Almost three years ago, we entered a summer of devastating floods that have altered the landscape of our neighbourhoods and the demands placed upon our government, both local and national.

To track the dangers of a changing environment, the Ministry for the Environment releases its Our Environment report every three years, which accumulates and analyses environmental monitoring done around the country.

Producer Manny spoke to Craig Stevens, Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Auckland, on the report and its implications for all of us.

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